While its worrying enough that the group was blocked from continuing their trip to Belizean territory by the armed Guatemalan military what should also be of great concern is what the Guatemalan press is reporting.

According to a news article in la Prensa Libre, Guatemalan Army troops avoided on Saturday that a group of Belizeans invade the Sarstoon Island, which according to the report is part of Livingston in Guatemalan Territory.

The report states that the Guatemalan Military participated in the operation that sought dialogue with the occupants of the boats to determine their migratory situations and make them available to the authorities, but when the group noticed the presence of the Guatemalan authorities they fled and returned to Belizean waters.

Foreign Minister of Guatemala, Carlos Raul Morales in a release issued to the Guatemalan press made a statement rejecting Belize’s claim for half of the Sarstoon River as he asserts that the Sarstoon River is entirely part of Guatemalan territory.

Morales also made note that the Belizean government had requested that the group desist from making the trip to avoid problems and not affect relationships between the two countries, but that the group did not listen and continued their journey with the intention to hoist the Belizean flag on the island which according to him, belongs to Guatemala. For those reasons Morales claimed, the Guatemalan Navy intercepted the group.